Victoria Kotowski’s Lyme Hack:

“Hi guys, my name is Victoria Kotowski. I’m 28 years old and from Long Island, New York and I was so excited when Rich and Matt asked me to give them a hack for their hackathon this year. I was a guest on the Tick Boot Camp Podcast back in the summer of 2020 and I think I’ve come a long way in my healing journey since. I’m going to give you guys two things that my therapist taught me that I do every single day that have really helped me into a healing mindset. They may seem small and silly, but trust me, if you continue to do them over time, it will do wonders for how you feel about yourself and in turn, how you handle your journey with Lyme disease or any chronic illness for that matter. The first one, is very simple, replace the word “but” with the word “and” as much as you can. So, for example, I want to go to dinner with my friends tonight, “but” I’m having a flare-up versus I want to go to dinner with my friends tonight “and” I’m having a flare-up, adds a level of self-acceptance where if you do that over time, it’s really going to help how you feel about yourself. The next one is anytime we feel discouraged or have a negative thought, add in “and the good news is”. Just doing that little thing, seems silly, but it’s going to equalize the moment and start to take you out of fight or flight mode and into a healing mindset. I do it all day every day. It could be as simple as “and the good news is the sun is shining”, or “and the good news is I saw a pretty flower today”. Anything that can just remind you that there are other good things going on in the world and focusing your brain on those as well. Make sure you watch all of the videos in the hackathon. I have been watching since the very beginning of my journey and some of them have been total game-changers for me. It’s also great to connect with the community. Thank you, Rich and Matt, for doing this as always, and I hope you guys have a great day.”